Trans-African Highway, Pt. 2

Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Asmera, Khartoum, Harare, Hargeza, Mogadishu, Kigali, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, Lagos Accra, Dakar, Kampala, Lusaka, Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria, Freetown, Cape Town, Cairo, Casablanca Tunis, Algiers, Tripoli, Luanda, Bamako, Maputo, Abuja, Kumasi, Yaounde, Mwanza, Dodoma, Niamey Ouagadougou, Juba, Lilongwe, Bujumbura, Bangui, Brazzaville, Mombasa, Lomé, Bissau, Djibouti, Monrovia... City to city, whole continent, Africa Unified especially in the minds of Diaspora Slums to the village, Townships to the gritty core To refugee camps and lands plagued by war Youth that don't speak their language no more Ancestors kidnapped off shores Empires built by work that's forced For hundreds of years there's an African source For all american culture exports There's nothing more beautiful than Black to me Nothing more complex than our history Sankofa followed me since they first said go back And get what you lost, fractals in a cross Every time I rhyme I'm carrying a torch Can't shake it It's more sacred than I could say In some ways, a stage is the only place I'm safe To shine all ways with my true spirit face Mulatu Astatke taught me bout grace I'm still learning, may my actions give thanks For all those who came, and walked through the flames Carried scars and the pain and lived anyway Who passed on a joy deeper than any shame We are healing in public You call it a game I want my heart to touch yours and to break all chains Free the land, free the people, may the borders erase To build a future, know from where you came